DHAKA: Bangladesh’s state tender to purchase and import 50,000 tonnes of wheat on Wednesday drew a lowest offer from trading house Swiss Singapore Overseas of $291.93 a tonne CIF liner out, officials at the state grains buyer said.

Three other trading houses competed for the tender from Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food.

No purchase has yet been made and the offers are still being considered.

The wheat in the lowest offer was of Russian origin, traders added.

Other participants in the tender were Phoenix Global which offered $296.88 a tonne CIF liner out for Black Sea/European Union-origin wheat, Agrocorp which offered $294.64 a tonne CIF liner out for Russian wheat and Aston which offered $292.70 a tonne CIF liner out also for Russian wheat, traders said.

The price includes shipping, insurance and ship unloading costs. All the offers were for 50,000 tonnes.

“Russian wheat continues to be offered aggressively in international tenders and the export flows out of Russia remain strong,” one European trader said. “There are no real signs that Russian wheat is selling out despite the export surge in the past months.”

Russia’s IKAR agriculture consultancy on Tuesday raised its Russian wheat export forecast for this year to 33 million tonnes, from 32.5 million previously.

Bangladesh emerged as a major buyer of rice and wheat in 2017 after floods damaged crops, sending rice prices to record highs and prompting many people to switch to flour.